Since 2015, SMART City Hoops has organized basketball tournaments for the high school and elementary teams in Metro Manila. This time around, the league is adding a seniors division.
The 2018 SMART City Hoops Summer Classic will have an 25-Under division that will be composed of six of the top collegiate teams in the country.
“We decided to open the 25-Under division this year because the schools have been clamoring for an invitational tournament that will be held in a high-quality facility, that is well-organized and has good competition,” said City Hoops founder Homer Bautista.
Headlining the six-team tournament are defending UAAP champions Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles and NCAA runners-up Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates.
Joining them are the CSJ Letran Knights, the UP Fighting Maroons, the FEU Tamaraws, and the Saint Benilde Blazers.
The format of the tournament will be a single round robin. The top seeded team by the end of the elimination round will gain an outright berth to the finale that is scheduled to take place on May 19.
On the other hand, the second-seeded team will take on the fifth-ranked team, while the third-seeded team will face the fourth-ranked in the knockout phase. The winners will face each other in the win-or-go-home semifinals game.
“Hopefully, by next year we can increase the number of teams as we look to give the schools and their student-athletes an experience like never before,” Bautista added.
For the Summer Classic, the league will stay true to its roots, as it will still hold its age-group divisions. Besides the 25-Under invitational, City Hoops will host six other divisions, namely the 19U, the 17U, the 15U, the 13U, the 12U, and the 10U tournaments.
City Hoops mainstays Lyceum, JRU, Letran, Xavier School, San Sebastian, La Salle Green Hills, San Beda-Alabang, San Benildo, and Claret School will continue to take part in the lower-division tournaments. Elizabeth Seton and Don Bosco-Makati complete the cast.
The tournament is set to begin on Saturday, April 14, as the FEU Tamaraws take on the Letran Knights at 2:30pm, followed by the Lyceum Pirates-UP Fighting Maroons tilt at 4:00pm. All games will be held at the Indoor Court of Greenhills West in San Juan City.
City Hoops is sponsored by SMART Communications Inc. and presented by Chooks-to-Go. It is supported by PLDT Home Fibr, Cignal TV, Mighty Sports Apparel, Rain or Shine Elasto Paint, and Wilson Basketball.
